Dear all,
I would like to wish you a peaceful and spiritual Ramadan ! I have made this painting in ink today especially for you. It is loosely based on the Cornishe Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah. Ramadan Mubarak from Kasia 🙂

This evening I am incredibly excited, because tonight at the 2nd Annual Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival I was awarded First Place in the Art category!

The two pieces selected by the Foundation for their Festival were from my Notice Me series, which I have been working on since moving to the UAE in September 2013.

It began with my observations of Emirati woman going about their everyday tasks. Although they are fully covered in a black abaya with a hijab or niqab, sometimes as a casual observer I could catch a glimpse of beauty escaping the abaya: a hem of delicate fabric, a shine of an elaborate shoe or extraordinary shades of colour on their eyelids. The fact that these signs of hidden beauty were unintentionally revealed was more stimulating than any attractiveness that was free to see from a simple glance. It made me wonder about the women on the inside of the black material; what are their dreams, ambitions and colours that are hidden from us.

I would like to thank the Al Qasimi Foundation and also my amazing husband for all his constant support.

Today I am very excited because two of my pieces will be exhibited at the 2nd annual Ras al Khaimah Fine Art Festival!

The Festival is part of the Al Qasimi Foundation’s efforts to make tangible contributions to the cultural development of both Ras Al Khaimah and the UAE, and this year it features over forty artists across film, photography and fine art. It also will showcase work by some of the students at RAK Academy, where I teach art.

The premiere of the exhibition will be a black tie event at the very posh Banyan Tree Al Wadi hotel, which I’m super-excited for, and the festival itself runs for four days. A little bird has said to me that there will be cocktails and caviar, and the thought of Simon in a tuxedo is very nice too!

It was a busy weekend and, frankly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to manage to finish my two pieces mentioned in my last post, as I was feeling under the weather. Fortunately my lovely Simon, bless him, has been nursing me to good effect and I managed to complete one of them.

Ok, finally the rush and craziness of moving jobs (and country, and getting married – all in a 3 month package!) is slowing down and I have a chance to sit down and do some work. And what’s better a topic than my freshly unwrapped out of the box husband? I am feeling a bit rusty now with portraits and thus that I made Simon a promise to create 20 portraits of him. This is no1: ink wash on paper, A4.

By the way, if anyone would like to become my next portrait’s victim – um, I mean ‘subject’ – please let me know. I want to dust off those skills of mine.